In recent years, micro bubble and nanobubble technologies have drawn widespread attention due to their wide-ranging applications in many industries, for example, health care, agriculture, aquaculture, water treatment, and the medical industry. Micro bubbles and nanobubbles are generally referred to as gas bubbles disposed within a fluid such as water. While micro-bubbles can remain suspended in water for some time, it has been suggested that nanobubbles are capable of remaining suspended in water for a relatively longer period of time. A micro bubble measures approximately less than 100 microns (10−6) or 0.004 inches in diameter while a nanobubble may measure less than 1 microns. In the context of this application, micro bubbles, micro-nano bubbles or nanobubbles may be referred to as ultra tiny bubbles.
Due to an increase in negative ion concentration around the gas-water interface of a micro bubble or nanobubble, micro or nanobubbles are capable of attracting dirt, debris, impurities and bacteria effectively. When the gas within these ultra tiny bubbles dissolves and collapse within the water, the bubbles disappear. During the collapse, the ultra tiny bubbles release free-radical oxygen ions and generate heat energy, which are effective in neutralizing the dirt, debris, impurities and bacteria it attracts and thereby providing the end user or the object surface with an improved cleaning experience. These advantageous properties of ultra tiny bubbles have been used in the area of consumer healthcare where micro bubble or nano bubble water therapy is increasingly gaining widespread acceptance due to its benefits to human health and skin care. In addition, due to the size and suspension of the ultra tiny bubbles in water, they are capable of being absorbed by the pores of the skin upon contact and the absorption of the ultra tiny bubbles in the skin cleans the pores, increases the amount of oxygen within the skin and improves blood circulation.
In the agricultural industry, the use of large amounts of water and harmful chemicals on the plants for improving yield and productivity can be mitigated by the use of micro bubble or nanobubble technology. The extended suspension rate of ultra tiny bubbles in water allows an increase in the amount of oxygen reaching the crops and plants, thereby improving yield and productivity. Similarly, this property has been used to great advantage in aquaculture to provide increased oxygen concentration in the water for the fishes and plants.
There are some common methods available for generating ultra tiny bubbles. The principal methods of generating bubbles are by cutting gas with turbulent flows in a mixture of gas and liquid, pressurized dissolution where a gas is forcibly dissolved into a liquid with compressor, ultrasonic or impulse waves. For exam*, U.S. Pat. No. 8,201,811 uses a pressurized dissolution method to generate micro bubbles in a hydrotherapy bathing system. A liquid is drawn from a reservoir through a suction fitting affixed to the reservoir by a high-pressure pump. A gas is drawn through an injecting device using the Venturi principle. The drawn gas and liquid are mixed in a pressure vessel under positive pressure. A mixing nozzle located in the internal cavity of the pressure vessel will cause the pressurized mixed liquid and dissolved gas to be distributed to a micro bubble jet in which micro bubbles are produced. The hydrotherapy bathing system requires complicated pressurizing elements and equipment to generate microbubbles, leading to high maintenance costs and frequent servicing.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an apparatus for generating nano bubbles that addresses the above problems. Additionally, it is desirable provide a solution that overcomes the above disadvantages or at least provide an apparatus that addresses the above problems.